The Pathless Path with Paul Millerd

Latest Episodes:

Laurel Farrer: The Global WFH Experiment & Long-Term Promise Of Remote Work Mar 18, 2020

Show notes

Laurel and I decided to jump on a video call to talk about the world emerging work-from-home experiment amid the evolving Covid-19 pandemic. We wanted to talk about some of the deeper principles & opportunities that remote work offers and talk about how companies might think about it in the next month and over the next few years. We talk about:

The short-term mindset companies should take in the next few weeks (hint: don't overdo the tools right now)
What the broader opportunity is for remote work over the next 10 years
The role of trust in remote work and what happens when it breaks down
How to think about meetings and how to design your day and re-think productivity
Examples of companies who have been innovating in this space for 10+ years
Experience from Laurel's 10+ years as a remote team leader

As the Founder of Distribute Consulting and the Remote Work Association, Laurel Farrer starts, strengthens, and leverages virtual workforces to solve corporate and socioeconomic concerns. A global thought leader on the topic of remote work, Laurel collaborates with the world's leading businesses and governments to eliminate virtual worker discrimination, prevent policy retraction, increase remote job accessibility, train distributed leaders, and design economic initiatives. Additionally, she also shares her expertise as a Forbes contributor, subject matter expert for business education curriculum, and virtual software product advisor.

More:

Episode Link & Show Notes
5 Tips For Remote Work (Boundless)
CEO of Doist & CEO of Zapier on Remote Work
Laurel on Twitter & LinkedIn

Imagining A New American Dream (Diania Merriam, Econome Conference) Jan 08, 2020

Show notes

In 2015, Diania Merriam discovered the Mr. Money Mustache blog about financial independence and reading it was like a refreshing punch in the face. At the time, she was living in NYC and $30k in debt. She got out of that debt in 11 months and started saving 60% of her income. This newfound grip on her finances gave her a huge boost of confidence to pursue goals that previously felt out of reach. In 2017, she moved to Cincinnati after negotiating a remote working arrangement with her employer.

She then took a 2 month unpaid sabbatical to walk the Camino de Santiago (a 500 mile trek across northern Spain). She also bought a house, adopted a dog, and found herself a midwestern gentleman. Diania founded EconoMe, a one day event at the University of Cincinnati on March 7th, 2020, to make the ideas that inspired her more accessible to others.

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Longform Thoughts: Why Organizations Undermine Creativity & Potential Jan 01, 2020

Show notes

For the re-launch of the Boundless podcast, I'm releasing a previously Patreon-only audio discussion of a piece I wrote - Crisis at Work - which was published in the fall of 2017.

*You can read the piece here*: Crisis At Work

I talk through six key reasons why organizational fail to unlock human potential:

We're defaulting to the wrong goals (shareholder value)
We're mistaking authority for performance (the Tom Brady principle)
We aren't providing a connection to purpose
We don't understand how organizations operate (Chaos theory)
We aren't giving people autonomy
We're choosing comfort over growth

Boundless Links:

Subscribe to the newsletter
Support On Patreon
Join The VIP Facebook Group (upcoming book club on Bullshit Jobs in September 2018)

A Remote Company With 40 Vacation Days?! (Amir Salihefendić, CEO Doist) Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

Amir Salihefendić is the Founder and CEO of Doist, a fully distributed, remote company that creates productivity tools (Todoist & Twist). We dive into his story of moving from Bosnia to Denmark as a child and how he started Doist while in college. He’s built a growing technology company in a fully remote setting, often experimenting with different ways of working and sharing the thinking behind the decisions as he goes on the doist blog as a major supporter of the remote work movement.

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The Lazy Person's Guide To Freedom, Generosity & Creative Work (Moataz Ahmed) Dec 01, 2019

Show notes

Moataz Ahmed otherwise known as “motizzy” is a graphic designer, consultant and hand lettering artist. He recently published Part 1 of his book titled, “Lazy Person’s Guide to Freedom” and we talked about his journey and book in this conversation.

We also talk about:

How we naturally started freelancing by helping people
His embrace of the “gift mindset”
How he improved his will-power and motivation
How he thinks about freedom and justice
How freedom should also be about speaking out for other people’s freedom
Learning new languages and the benefit of cross-cultural insight for design work

You can learn more:

Motizzy.com
Lazy Person’s Guide To Freedom ($0+ Gift Pricing)
His great design work on instagram

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Twitter Friends & Threads, Self-Employment & Curiosity (Visakan Veerasamy) Oct 30, 2019

Show notes

I connected with Visa on twitter, where he’s made many friends over the past several years. I wanted to interview Visa to talk about his leap to self-employment over the past couple of years, but we talked about so much more. We talk about:

What the word “nourish” means to him
His evolution on procrastination and getting started
How to find like-hearted humans on twitter
The “asshole problem”
The curious humans of twitter
How he creates his own work

See the episode notes here

Follow Visa on twitter

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Rest, Leisure, Working Less & The 4-Day Workweek (Alex Pang) Oct 22, 2019

Show notes

Alex Pang is the author of Rest about how you can do more while working less and is author of the forthcoming Shorter, which shares stories of companies that have shifted to a four day workweek.

Hear about Alex's own sabbatical, how he changed his relationship to rest and what he's learning now.

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Geography & Culture Side Hustle Experiments w/ Rohith Oct 17, 2019

Show notes

I'm experimenting with some shorter episodes where I explore side hustles and creative experiments with people taking action on experiments they are excited about.

This one features Rohith Amruthur, creator of the Lost Geographer, which you can learn more about here. If you have any suggestions or want to come on the podcast, shoot me an e-mail.

If you'd like to support this podcast you can do so here.

The Phases & Emotional Journey Of Making A Work Shift (Stephen Warley) Sep 19, 2019

Show notes

I had a 2nd conversation with Stephen about the phases and emotional experiences of what a shift looks like. He's coached hundreds of people so has a good understanding of what people typically face.

I created this as part of my curious exploration of making sense of what it takes to reinvent in the modern world.

If you want to support the podcast, you can go here.

Good Writing & Doing Work That Matters (Andy Sparks, CEO Holloway) Sep 04, 2019

Show notes

Andy Sparks founded a company called Holloway, which is trying to solve the problem of sharing knowledge online. He shared how his startup is trying to combine beauty, writing & deep knowledge to complex topics like Venture Capital and Hiring.

We talk about his journey, how he started writing, the professor that changed his life in college and how his father has influenced his approach to work & life. He also shares how he thinks about "a lake" as a metaphor for life and how he stays in touch with friends in a vulnerable way.

We talk about: